shame over shocking child homelessness figures

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, commenting on new child homelessness figures from Shelter, said:

“Tory Ministers should hang their heads in shame over these shocking figures showing over 120,000 children are facing homelessness this Christmas. These are the children that can’t go home and after six years Conservative Ministers can’t dodge their responsibility for this scandal.

“Six years of failure on housing has led directly to today’s rapidly rising homelessness. Since 2010, Ministers have ended funding for genuinely affordable social rented housing, cut housing benefit for families on low incomes, done nothing about rising costs and insecurity for private renters, and slashed funding for homelessness services by almost a half.

“Homelessness is not inevitable and the last Labour Government cut homelessness before it rose again after 2010.

“Ministers should back Labour’s plans to build thousands more affordable homes to rent and buy, and re-think further planned cuts to housing benefit which will make the problem of growing homelessness worse.”